Thousands of beers on the shelf, pick 1

[O-Ale-Yeah]

How would a thirsty person narrow their pick if there are a thousand beers on tap? I pick, SRM = 9-13, IBU = 20-25, ABV = 6-9, wheat is good, and German seems preferable.

What do you consider when there are a thousand choices or what should someone consider to narrow the choice?

 

[RPh_Guy]

Easy, I pick the one sour beer.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

> What do you consider when there are a thousand choices or what should someone consider to narrow the choice?

Bad starting point?

Reduce the 1000 choices (in a mega-beer store) to a couple of enjoyable styles:

• There are small number of local craft breweries that near each of us.
  
• Go to each of them, over time, and order a flight.
  
• Note which beers and styles you enjoy.
• Return to the local craft brewer to buy the beers you like.
• As the local brewery introduce new items, sample and talk notes.

Branch out into regional and national craft breweries:

• Use AHA's "Best Beers In America" (or other similar resource) to identify regional / national craft beers that you might enjoy based on styles you enjoy
  
• Learn how to identify bottled/canned brew that is appropriately fresh for the style
• return to mega-beer store to buy the beers you want to sample
• If you enjoy a beer from an regional / national craft brewer, sample their other styles.

 

[Soulshine2]

How would a thirsty person narrow their pick if there are a thousand beers on tap? I pick, SRM = 9-13, IBU = 20-25, ABV = 6-9, wheat is good, and German seems preferable.

What do you consider when there are a thousand choices or what should someone consider to narrow the choice?

depends on what/if Im eating, such as pizza, I'll go with a brown ale or darker like stout or porter. BUT, if its summer and we're out in the pool (Bar-zebo), I'll go with a more bitter(hoppier) ale ....Its a situational choice.

 

[kh54s10]

After an hour or two of looking, I would choose one. If allowed again it would, most likely, be a different one.

 

[wstumper]

Gee, I just stare at all the shelves full of beer and walk back & forth for a couple of hours until my brain says "Enough! Just pick one!" Reminds me back in the day of roaming Blockbuster Video with hundreds of VHS tapes. (My wife won't go shopping unless she has a list.)

Obviously if I know what I want (rarely) I go right to the shelf. BUT, if the shelves are arranged by brewer and/or region, and they have a large selection, well... If I was looking for a particular style, say stout, than I've got to walk down the shelves looking at everything--which is distracting. Grocery stores are a different matter since they have a smaller selection. We have Party Source (miles of beer shelves & a huge beer cave) and Fresh Thyme.

I'm half free spirit, half nerd. I like looking at labels. Marketing people love me.

 

[IslandLizard]

First off, I drink mostly homebrew, my own and others'.

I buy beer from local breweries and if buying in a store, easy! I'm going for locally or semi-locally produced beers, occasionally a larger national craft brewery. I never visit beer megastores.

 

[One Eye Ross]

Depends on location....

If in Grafenwoehr, I'd go with a Graf Lowenbrau...if in Bad Nauheim, I'd grab a Licher Pils. Frankfurt aM, I'd probably go with the house Alt. Guinness in London....

 

[MaxStout]

My first choice would be to buy local. Beers I haven't tried before. That at least narrows it down. And when I travel, it's a good time to find something local as well. If I'm in, say, Denver, I'd want to try Denver-area beers, particularly offerings I can't find back home.

 

[Rodent]

a Bud Light - at least you know exactly what you'd be getting

 

[Rodent]

kidding - totally kidding in my previous post




I'd select a beer representative of the region, and something local (or as local as possible) to the location I was at

 

[Kirkwooder]

Simplest of questions to answer....Whatever are you buying me?

 

[O-Ale-Yeah]

Easy, I pick the one sour beer.

I dig sour.... Never tried sour beer though.

a Bud Light - at least you know exactly what you'd be getting

Lol,,,

 

[SEndorf]

How would a thirsty person narrow their pick if there are a thousand beers on tap? I pick, SRM = 9-13, IBU = 20-25, ABV = 6-9, wheat is good, and German seems preferable.

What do you consider when there are a thousand choices or what should someone consider to narrow the choice?

One thousand beers on tap? Where?
Here's you're solution:
1. Make sure you have eaten a full meal.
2. Flights..... Flights... and more flights. They are your multiple sampling friend
3. Make sure you're not driving and have the Uber app on your phone.

Oh... and I agree to lean toward the German brews.....

 

[O-Ale-Yeah]

I found another factor to narrow the selection! So, excited! I narrow my selection by SRM, IBU, and ABV, but this seems like a big deal too. It's Bitterness Ratio (BU:GU). A comparison of IBUs (Bitterness Units) to sugars (Gravity Units) in a beer.

0.5 is perceived as balanced
less than 0.5 is perceived as sweeter
over 0.5 is perceived as more bitter

Found this info on the creaftbrew site.Divide IBU by the last two digits of Original Gravity (remove the 1.0) to give relative bitterness.

 

[O-Ale-Yeah]

CO2 could also be a deciding factor in selection, right? if given the choice between highly carbonated, moderate, and low, I pick moderate. I like Snicklefritz over Weihenstephaner partly because Snicklefritz is less carbonated. Ok so for potential deciding factors I have:

SRM
ABV
IBU
BU:GU
CO2
And of course taste
​

 

[SEndorf]

SRM
ABV
IBU
BU:GU
CO2
And of course taste ​

With all respect, I think deciding on what beer you like by examining it's statistical content is putting the cart before the horse, and will rob you of enjoying many truly great beers that might not be in your predetermined SRM range, etc.
​

 

[O-Ale-Yeah]

With all respect, I think deciding on what beer you like by examining it's statistical content is putting the cart before the horse, and will rob you of enjoying many truly great beers that might not be in your predetermined SRM range, etc.
​

I do get this as a possibility, because outside of my normal likes, Warsteiner German Pilsner is crazy good IMHO, but doesn't fit half of my statistical criteria for a beer I'd like.

 

[BruceH]

The Lowenbrau I had at the Munich Ratskeller.

 

[Kharnynb]

if the place has 1000 beers on tap, i'd leave, no way they clean the lines often enough for me to risk it......

bottles, something that has high enough turn over or ages well, pref. local or interesting.